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Geoscience Australia confirmed its
role as a leading global collaborator last week at one
of the world’s largest gatherings of Earth observation
practitioners and policy makers – GEO Week 2019.

During meetings held in Canberra
with international partners, Geoscience Australia’s
Chief Executive Officer Dr James Johnson formalised
international agreements with Sri Lanka, Mexico and New
Zealand respectively.

Dr Johnson said these new
collaborations present exciting opportunities for
Geoscience Australia to exchange knowledge on Earth
observations and support global innovation.

“Collaborations like these on
geospatial and geoscience data will help us and our
global partners to progress our goals for a sustainable
future,” Dr Johnson said.

A report commissioned by the
Australian Government and released during GEO Week 2019
estimates Earth and marine observation adds $29 billion
in value to Australia’s economy. The report projects
this could increase to $101 billion by 2030.

“We are pioneering the use of Earth
observation technologies to drive future business and
better environmental management, and are helping
communities better prepare for natural hazards through
our national-scale disaster risk information,” Dr
Johnson said.

“Australia has huge potential for
international investment and economic growth through our
naturally-occurring resources and advanced space
technologies.

“We are focused on making a
difference to the way Australia develops and does
business into the future, and I’m excited to share this
goal with our international partners.”

International agreements signed by
Geoscience Australia during GEO Week 2019 include:

On Tuesday, 5 November, the
Chairman of the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau of
the Government of Sri Lanka, Mr Iddawela and Dr James
Johnson signed a Memorandum of Understanding on
Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

On Wednesday, 6 November, Land
Information New Zealand Chief Executive, Ms Gaye
Searancke, and Dr James Johnson signed an agreement to
continue our productive working relationship on mutual
interests in geoscience including positioning,
location-based data, mapping, marine data and
information, Earth observations from space, and
engineering.

On Thursday, 8 November, Mexico’s
National Institute of Statistics and Geography’s Ms
Paloma Merodio and Dr James Johnson signed a Memorandum
of Understanding to build on existing collaboration,
especially in remote sensing and open data-cube
technology.